BIRN Kosovo Sectors

BIRN Kosovo produces a wide variety of English-language and local language news reports, analysis and investigations, and is also involved in promoting good governance in Kosovo through public events, trainings and capacity-building. BIRN's team in Kosovo provides a variety of services to clients interested in learning about and working in the Balkans.

Media

BIRN Kosovo produces a variety print, online and television materials that cover current events, debates, transitional justice and more.

Publishing & Broadcasting

As part of its publishing efforts, BIRN Kosovo journalists cover political, social and economic issues in both Albanian and English languages via two online news portals: Balkan Insight and Gazeta Jeta ne Kosove.

A well-known and widely distributed Albanian-language TV program, Life in Kosovo, carries both reports and hard-hitting interviews with decision-makers in the country. In addition, the office publishes the English-language newspaper Prishtina Insight every two weeks, and covers issues ranging from rule of law and environmental issues.

BIRN Kosovo also produces a televised Justice in Kosovo program, and a monthly Justice in Kosovo newsletter that covers issues of police, security and the justice system.

BIRN Kosovo's publications have led to changes in government practices, exposure of corruption, and further investigation of issues raised.

Advocacy

BIRN Kosovo's print and broadcast reports enourage transparency and accountability through investigative reporting on public services, corruption, EU integration and other pertinent issues.

The BIRN team in Kosovo produces numerous investigative pieces in a variety of formats that expose corrupt practices and push the country towards a better future.

One example of this work can be found in an article on Pristina's purchase of a fire engine, which revealed the corrupt actions behind a municipal tender.

Capacity-building

BIRN Kosovo conducts in-house training and formal workshops for journalists and civil society workers throughout Kosovo to build media capacity in the country.

In addition to in-house trainings, dozens of journalists and civil society activists from across Kosovo have received training in investigative journalism techniques through BIRN Kosovo workshops.

Good Governance

BIRN Kosovo is engaged on initiatives and activities that aim to promote good governance in Kosovo's public services such as healthcare, judicial system and education. Further, BIRN aims to share the know-how of monitoring and following up on cases reported through its media outlets with other media in Kosovo.

Advocacy

BIRN Kosovo's legal unit initiative on advocacy focuses on advancing new legislation in the country, and pushing for good governance practices.

BIRN has been active in advocating for several laws, such as the Law on the Public Broadcaster, which foresaw that RTK should not purchase any informative programming from independent producers.

In addition, BIRN insisted that a solution to non-state financing should be found for Kosovo’s public broadcaster.

Monitoring and Research

With its efforts to monitor public services and elections in Kosovo, the BIRN office contributes to the work of detecting problems in the rule of law, education and healthcare arenas and enhancing the independence, transparency and accountability of public services.

BIRN Kosovo has a pool of 14 monitors who systematically monitor courts, hospitals and schools in 26 municipalities in the country. The monitors attend court sessions, visit hospitals and talk to patients, and visit schools and attend classes.

The material gathered is then collated and distributed via monthly newsletters and analytical annual reports, and information is passed on to journalists who often conduct further research and written articles for local media.

In addition, BIRN production teams accompany Kosovo customs inspectors as they carry out field inspections throughout the country.

BIRN Kosovo's team of election monitors has documented fraud and filed complaints that led to the annulment of results in several polling stations.

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Spotlight

BIRN Kosovo Reports on Progress of Corruption Cases

“The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) and Internews Kosova, for 12 years, have monitored the Kosovo judicial system at all levels in order to assess its performance in respecting legality, work ethics and judicial proceedings. The monitoring also included cases targeted for visa liberalization in all court instances where the judicial procedure takes place. In order to have a situation analysis on the fulfillment of the second criterion for visa liberalization, BIRN and Internews Kosova drafted a report with detailed data on the status of the targeted cases.”.